The Torch Was Passed From Conor McGregor to Paddy Pimblett at UFC 328

We headed into UFC 329 with the expectation of seeing an iconic walkout, a man who backed his prediction up, someone who was supremely confident, a crowd favourite, an individual who rocked the mic and had the fans going crazy. We got all of that and much more.

We expected The Notorious Conor McGregor to provide these moments. It wasn’t him who did, however. It would be Liverpool’s own, Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett who took the mantle from McGregor and catapulted himself into super stardom. 

It was a passing of the torch moment without the two having to ever meet inside the octagon.

From Conor McGregor to Paddy Pimblett

Similar Origins

The Pimblett Story

CageWarriors can take a lot of credit for being the promotion that bread both Conor McGregor and Paddy Pimblett and made them into the stars they are today. Without the origins stories of both men, we wouldn’t have ‘The Notorious’ or ‘The Baddy’ in the UFC today.

Pimblett made his CageWarriors debut when he was 3-0, winning his debut but losing on his second outing. This wouldn’t deter him and he would go on a winning streak across both CageWarriors and Full Contact Contender.

It would be his eighth CageWarriors fight that would see him fight for the title, where, against Johnny Frachey, he would capture the vacant belt with a TKO in under two minutes. Just two months later, he would face UFC alumni, Julian Erosa, in his first defence, getting the decision victory across five rounds.

Although Pimblett would drop the belt to Nad Narimani in his next outing, he would move up in weight and challenge for the lightweight title against Soren Bak. Again, for Pimblett, it wasn’t his night and he lost across five rounds. In 2018, the UFC first visited Liverpool and it was a time in which Pimblett allegedly got the UFC call, which, interestingly, he turned down.

This would turn out to be a fantastic decision by Pimblett, who, two wins later would be signing for the UFC and begin his historic rise.

McGregor Mania

Unlike Pimblett, McGregor actually lost his CageWarriors debut. Taking on fellow Irishman, Joe Duffy, it would take McGregor just 38 seconds to lose his undefeated record.

He would rebound from this loss with three knockout wins totalling under three minutes of action, including a 16 second and four second knockout. He would sign back with CageWarriors and go on to put back to back wins together before competing for the vacant featherweight strap, beating Dave Hill in the second round. He would go on to then compete for the vacant lightweight title, winning in typical devastating fashion, becoming a simultaneous two-weight world champion, a foreshadow of things to come for McGregor.

He joined the UFC with a lot of hype and rightfully so, he was a devastating knockout artist with a captivating personality and bulletproof self belief.

Passing of the Torch at UFC 329

Two big personalities were on the UFC 329 card in Conor McGregor and Paddy Pimblett. The two men always look to steal the show whenever they compete and, interestingly, Pimblett decided to take more of a back seat during the press conference, allowing McGregor to do his usual act of conducting the crowd.

It would be fight night, however, where the torch was truly passed. Pimblett took McGregor’s mantle, his blueprint and ran with it.

There’s little denying that Paddy Pimblett has one of the best walkouts in all of MMA. His ‘scouse house’ tunes blasting, the crowd singing ‘Oh Paddy the Baddy’, his signature dance moves and jovial personality captivates audiences across the globe. A video has emerged of Pimblett minutes before making the walk watching the crowd eagerly anticipate his entrance. He was soaking in the energy of the crowd and thriving from it.

In contrast, McGregor didn’t look himself. Although he still had an iconic ringwalk, with his classic ‘Foggy dew’ walkout song, it’s safe to say the crowd were much more active during Pimblett’s walkout.

A Minute is All it Takes

The co-main event of UFC 329 saw the dangerous Frenchman, Benoit Saint Denis, lock horns with Paddy Pimblett. There were plenty of questions about Pimblett heading into UFC 329 after he was coming off a loss to Justin Gaethje earlier in the year.

He entered the fight, confident as always and had been telling everyone all week that is BSD shoots in on him, he’ll choke the Frenchman out.

Pimblett had clearly already seen the script. Within the first few seconds, the Frenchman shot in, Pimblett snatched a guillotine and using his elite jiu-jitsu, transitioned into a d’arce choke. Lesser skilled fighters would have struggled to hold onto the submission with BSD doing everything right to avoid being choked out, however, Pimblett is elite on the ground. 

He choked the Frenchman out in just 52 seconds, leading to an iconic photo, moment and performance.

It wasn’t a similar story in the main event for Conor McGregor, however. After the first strike thrown, his night was over. A knee injury forced him to eventually slip to 0-3 in his last three outings. Disappointment, lacklustre and unfulfilled.

But, fans tuned in for an iconic walkout - Tick. Paid for a statement finish - Tick. Wanted someone to rock the mic - Tick. Lusted after someone who backed up their talk with a performance - Tick.

The only caveat was, it wasn’t Conor McGregor who delivered on these wishes… it was Paddy Pimblett. A true passing of the torch night in UFC history at UFC 329.